Roll profiler



1969 c; R. LECKY ETAL 3,427,723

ROLL PROFILER Original Filed Sept. 23, 1964 INVENTORS CLEVE R. LECKEYRICHARD J. QUINT RICHARD L. BLANCHARD' 74444.. ATT?NEYS Sheet Feb. 18,1969 c. R. LECKEY ETAL ROLL PROFILER Original FiledSept. 23, 1964 FIG. 5

Feb. 18, 1969 R. uacksy ETAL- 3,427,72

ROLL PROFILER Sheet Original Filed Sept. 23, 1964 CLEVE R. LEGKEYRICHARD Ju QUINT RICHARD L. BLANCHARD 4.444. ATTO%EYS United StatesPatent Office 3,427,723 ROLL PROFILER Cleve R. Leckey, West Peru, andRichard J. Quint and Richard L. Blanchard, Dixfield, Maine, assignrs toOxford Paper Company, Rumford, Maine Application Sept. 23, 1964, Ser.No. 398,491, which is a continuation-in-paxt of application Ser. No.313,342, Oct. 2, 1963. Divided and this application May 26, 1967, Ser.No. 660,846 U.S. Cl. 33-174 Int. Cl. G0lb 5/08 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE Application, Ser. No. 398,491, now abandoned, is acontinuation-in-part of our application Ser. No. 313,342, filed Oct. 2,1963, now abandoned.

This application is a divisional of pending application, Ser. No.398,491 filed Sept. 23, 1964, now abandoned,

and assigned to the same assignee as the present appli cation.

The present invention relates to a method* and apparatus for measuringimperfections in a web of material and more particularly to a method andcorrespondng apparatus for making such measurements after the materialhas been wound into a roll by sensing differential changes in the rollsurface contour.

The present invention has particlar usefulness in conunction With papermanufacturing and coating apparatus for accurately measuring thedifferential caliper of the web material in a direction along its lengthand across its Width and for determining the location of, andcalibrating the difierential stretch that may have been produced in suchweb material during its manufacture and subsequent coating and handling.

In the original production of paper, for example, or in the coating ofpaper, flaws or imperfections such as caliper variation may be causedfor any of a number of reasons as improper aligument of relier stacks orimproper alignment of sizing or coating equipment. With misalignmemfofsuch parts of paper manufacturng or processing apparatus, the paper webmay be uneve nly compressed between the rollers through which it passesor may be coated unevenly. Imperfections in the paper may,also fbecaused by foreign material inadvertently finding its way into theappanatus and becoming incorporated in the produced web material orremainng in the apparatus and causng uneven wearing of critical parts.

After the paper web has been formed or after the web 3,427,723 PatentedFeb. 18, 1969 its core, become aggrevated or amplified due to theincreasing size of the roll.

Also, stretohing of the web material as it is wound into a roll may becaused iby the original differential caliper produced during theprevious manufacturing stages. For example, in those areas where thecaliper of the web is greater than adjacent areas, a ridge or bulge willbe produced in the wound roll. Assumng that this higher caliper extendsthe full length of the web, the bulge fonmed in the roll will extendcompletely around the periphery of the roll and as the size of the woundroll increases, the size of this bulge will likewise increase. '[lhis isapparent since the caliper of the individual layers is being multipliedas layer upon layer is formed in the roll.

As the size of the roll and the accompanying bulge is increased, theindividual layers of the web will be caused to stretch. Such stretchngwill be produced in directions both transversely of the web andlongitudinally thereof. Transverse stretohing will result since the webWith its width in the wound roll remainng substantially constantthroughout its length will :be required to follow a curved andconsequently longer path in the area of the bulge. Longitudinalstretchng, on the other hand, will be caused by the increasedcircumferential path that the web must follow in forming each woundlayer.

Web material rolled in this condition, whether it be original paperstock, coated paper or the like, when subsequently unrolled in asuitable web using apparatus, as for exmple, a printing press, mayobviously have an adverse affect on proper running of the web usingapparatus and on the quality of the finished product. When the sectionof web that has been stretchd is untwound from the roll, it will presenta greater dimension across the surface of the web than another sectionof the web that has not been stretched or stretohed to a lesser degree.This stretched portion will show as Ibaggness in the unwound web and ifsuch bagginess is present to any great extent, will necessitate removalof the roll from the web using apparatus and replacement With a newroll. And at the same time, it is quite likely that the final productalready produced With this imperfect web will have to be discarded.

In a printing press in which high quality printing is desired it is ofcourse desirable that the web material fed to the press be perfectlyuniform in all respects throughout its length. In actual practice,however, this is not economically feasible and instead tolerances aredeveloped within Which variations in the physical characteristics of theweb material are deemed permissible. These tolerances vary for differenttypes of Web using apparatus and With the quality of the final productdesired, but nevertheless, are available for determi-ning whether aparticular supply of web material is in fact usable.

Many attempts have been made in the past to measure imperfections in theweb material as it is being manufactured or processed. Conventionally,these measurements are taken on a single thickness of web material offinite length and as such cannot give an accurate picture of the entiresupply. Variations in the caliper of a particular section of webmaterial before it is wound into a roll may be as small as 0.00001 inch.Variations of this magnitude are too small to be detected withoutemploying highly sensitive and expensive equipment. Furthermore, avariation of this magnitude would itself most likely be within thelimits of the strictest of tolerances required by any web usingapparatus and its detection would therefore be of little value.

'If a variation of this magnitude or one of even a higher magnitude ismeasured on a finite length of a single layer of web, it cannot beaccurately or expediently determined whether such a variation is merelya localized one or that will extend the full length of the web. If it isof the former type, it will most likely have little if any adverseafiect on the web during its subsequent feeding through the web usingapparatus.

If, however, such a variation were to persist along the full length ofthe web, it would, as explained above, be amplified as the web was woundonto a core. For example, in a roll of paper having a diameter of 36inches made up of 0.003 inch caliper stock, it will take some 12,000layers of paper to complete the roll. With a constant caliper variationof 0.00001 inch existing in any one portion of the web, a bulge of ,4inch will be caused in the outer profile of the roll. The web will havebeen stretched more and more as the winding progresses in order tocompensate for the ever increasing bulge and With a 36 inch roll, such abulge inch can be measured to have caused a mine foot web of paper tostretch 7 inch. Web material of this nature will be unacceptable inquality printing operations, yet as far as the original measurement isconcerned, it could not be determined that this Would be the case sinceit was not known if this imperfection was going to be incorporated inthe full length of the web.

Further aggrevating any attempt to determine the acceptability of awound supply of web material before it is wound are the forces acting onthe inner layers of material as subsequent layers are wound into themass. It is quite normal for a single sheet caliper to show variationsas great as i0.0002 inch. If this variation were present in a 0.003 inchcaliper paper and were to remain constant in any one portion of the webas it is wound into a 60 inch diameter roll, the calculated ridge orbulge that should be produced in the profile of the roll would be twoinches. Since, however, bulges of this magnitude do not exist in actualpractice, it appears that there is an undetected averaging out of thecaliper variation and this necessarily reduces the reliability of theoriginal caliper measurement.

In view of the foregoing it can be seen that it is important for thequality control of completed paper rolls shipped to printers that atotal picture be obtained of the full length of web wound on the roll.Because ridges, bulges or stretched portions can cause distortions andimbalanced conditions in the paper during printing, resulting in poorrunability, it is imperative that a diagnostic tool of high accuracy beavailable to measure the condition of the paper and that standards beestablished correlating those measurements to paper roll runability.

The present invention overcomes the limitations of the prior art andprovides a method and apparatus for accurately analyzing the conditionof the paper web after it has been wound into a roll. Broadly, themethod comprises the steps of sensing the differential caliper andstretch present in the wound web material by sensing variations in theposition of the surface of the roll from a fixed reference lime whilethe apparatns broadly comprises a movable carriage and means forsupporting the carriage. The supporting means are adapted to permit themovement of the carriage along the length of the roll of web materialand at a fixed reference distance from the axis of the roll. Inaddition, sensing means are supported by the carriage for sensing thedifferential imperfections in the web by measuring the difierentialsurface contour of the wound roll of web.

A more concise understanding of the invention may be obtained from thefollowing detailed description With reference being made to theaecompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of one embodiment of the present invention inoperating position With respect to a paper roll;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a detail elevation illustrating the transducer assembly of theembodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the carriage of the embodiment of FIG. 1 With acut out section illustrating the drive assembly;

FIG. 5 is an end elevation of the carriage of FIG. 4 illustrating thelocking means for the transducer rod;

FIG. 6 is an elevation of another embodiment of the inventionillustrating the carriage disposed above the paper roll;

FIG. 7 is an end view of the embodiment of FIG. 6.

Referring particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, the measuring apparatus of thepresent invention, which for purposes of description may be termed aroll profiler, comprises a carriage 10 adapted to be movedlongitudinally along shafts 12. The carriage 10 comprises a pair offrames 14 connected by cross pieces 16 and 17. The frames 14 areprovided With openings 18 adapted to receive the shafts 12 in slidingengagement therein.

The shafts 12 are oriented such that their longitudinal axes areparallel to a vertical plane extending through the longitudinal axis ofa paper roll 20 and extend substantially the entire length of the roll.The shafts 12 are maintained in parallel relationship to each other andto such plane by a support means (mot shown).

The carriage 10 is moved along the shafts 12 by a drive means comprisinga motor 22 and a drive wheel 24, best seen in FIG. 4. The motor 22 issupported by the carriage 10. The motor 22, which is preferably of thereversible type, turns the drive wheel 24, which by reason of itsengagement With a shaft 12, moves the entire carriage 10.

For automatic operation the carriage 10 is provided With a trip rod 26which is adapted to actuate a microswitch 28 located upon a bar 30 whichbar is parallel to the shafts 12. The switch is operatively connected tothe motor 24 and may be selectively placed at various positions alongthe bar 30. As the carriage 10 passes the switch 28, the trip rod 26strikes the switch which causes the motor to reverse, thus returning thecarriage to its starting position.

The carriage 10 is adapted to support a movable bed 32. A pair of rods34 are secured between and interconnect the crosspieces 16. The rods 34are parallel to each other and substantially perpendicular to the axisof the shafts 12 and thus perpendicular to a vertical plane extendingthrough the axis of the paper roll 20. The movable bed 32 is movableupon the rods 34 by means of legs 36. The legs 36 are provided Withbushings 38 which are adapted to receive the rods 34 therein in slidingengagement. Thus, the bed 32 may be moved inwardly and outwardly Withrespect to the paper roll 20.

A profile sensing roll bracket 40 is supported upon the movable bed 32.The bracket 40 is supported such that it may be selectively adjusted bymovement in and out With respect to the paper roll 20 independently ofthe movement of the bed 32. In the preferred embodiment the bracket 40is provided With a bottom plate 42 which is adapted to rest upon themovable bed 32. The bottom plate 42 is held securely upon the bed 32 bymeans of a clamping bar 44 provided With bolts 46. Thus, the operativeposition of the bracket 40 may be adjusted prier the use of the device.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the roll 20 is positioned With the ends ofits axis, as defined by the ends of the roll, in a horizontal planewhile the carriage is positioned to the side of the roll. Once thepositioning of the bed 32 is made for a particular sized roll, areference distance R.D. is established. This distance extendsperpendicular to a vertical plane passing through the axis of the rolland With this construction, any bending or warping of the roll as may becaused by the weight of the roll along any unsupported portion of itsaxis, will have no aflect on the already established reference distanceR.D. This reference distance may therefore be used as a norm inmeasuring variations in the contour of the roll as will be more fullydescribed below.

The bracket 40 supports a roll contour,sensing roll 48 which iscylindrical in shape. This cylindrical shape and elongated configurationof the sensing roll 48 permits greater flexibility and use of the devicewith various sized paper rolls.

This flexibility is best illustrated in FIG. 1 where a larger paper rollis shown in phamtom together with a representation.of the moved positionof the bed 32. The clongated shape of the sensing roll 48 imsures thatwhatever the size of the paper roll or whatever vertical warp isproduced by the unsupported portion of the roll, contact will be madebetween the sensing roll 48 and the paper roll 20 along a lime that isunafiected by such variations in roll size or warp. It follows that asthe sensing roll 48 is moved in a direction parallel to the verticalplane extending through the longitudinal axis of the paper roll 20, itssuccessive points of contact with the roll will define a lime iepresenting variations in the surface contour of the wound web and thuschanges in the web caliper or stretch.

The bed 32 is urged into operative position, with the sensing roll 48against the paper roll 20, by means of a gas cylinder assembly 50. Thegas cylinder 50is secured to the crosspiece 17 and has the free end ofits plunger 52 secured to a leg 36. Thus, the cylinder assembly 50constantly urges the slidable bed 32 inwardly toward the paper roll 20while permitting its in and out movement.

The difierentiatl surface contour of the paper roll 20 is detected bythe sensing roll 48 which, in the course of its travel along the lengthof the paper roll is displaced inwardly or outwardly of a vertical planepositioned at the fixed reference distance dependimg upon theconfiguration of the roll. The movements of the sensing roll 48 aretransferred to the bracket 40 and thus to the bed 32 which is caused toslide upon the rods 34.

The movements of the sensing roll 48 and connected parts are sensed by atransducer means best illustrated in FIG. 3. A transducer 54 is afiixedto a leg 36 of the bed 32. A transducer rod 56, the movement of whichcontrols the signal output of the transducer 54, projects from one endof the transducer.

The transducer rod 56 is slidably supported through the crosspiece 17. Apivotal lockimg bar 57, located upon the crospiece 17, is adapted to beurged into contact with the extended portion of the transducer rod 56 bya plunger 59. The locking bar 57 is adapted to lock the transducer rod56 in position when urged into contact with the rod. Thus, it can beseen that movement of the sensing roll 48 and thus the bed 32 results inmovement of the transducer 52 affixed to a leg 36. The transducer rod 56being locked into position during operation results in a signal outputfrom the transducer because of the relative movement between thetransducer 54 and the transducer rod.

The signal yielded by the transducer 52 fluctuates in accordance withthe variations in the surface contour of the roll which are representedby changes in the spacing between surface of the roll and the planepositioned at the fixed reference distance, these changes, in turn,being sensed by the sensing roll 48. The signal output is graphicallyrecorded by suitable conventional means 53 connected to the transducerthrough the leadline 55. The recordation of the variations thus gives agraphie representaton of the surface contour of the paper roll 20 in theform of a line which represents the high points and low points of thesurface of the roll along the line of travel of the sensing roll 48.

Another embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7.There, a carriage in the form of a saddle 60 is shown slidably mountedupon a support bar or shaft 62. The support bar 62 has attached theretotwo branched support pads 64 and 66 which rest atop a paper roll 68. Thebranched pads 64 and 66 are idemtical and hold the support bar 62 in aposition parallel to the longitudinal axis of the paper roll 68. Assuch, it will be seen that the pads themselves comstitute a series oftwo or more pads which extend along a lime parallel to the longitudinalaxis of the paper roll. The saddle 60 has a out-out portion 70 to permitthe saddle to slide past the upright portions 72 and 74 of the branchedpads 64 and 66. To aid in the slidability of the saddle 60, a hallbearing ring 63, suitably split to permit the passing of uprightportions 72 and 74, is interposed between the saddle 60 and support bar62. This arrangement of the saddle 60 upon support bar 62 also permitsslight rockimg movements of the device upon the support bar tofacilitate its placement upon the paper roll.

The gauge arms or brackets 76 and 78 are disposed such that theystraddle the paper roll 68 When the apparatus is in operative position.At the lower end of gauge arm 76, a guide 80 is located. The guide 80 isslidable along the gauge arm 76 and is held at various positionstherealong by a set-screw 82. Disposed inwardly of the gauge arm 76 andupon guide 80 is a guide follower 84. Guide 80 is set so that the guidefollower 84 is in rolling contact with paper roll 68 during operation.

At the lower end of gauge arm 78, a sensor 86 is 10- cated. Semsor 86 isslidable along the gauge arm 78 and is held in various positionstherealomg by the set-screw 82. In this embodiment the sensor 86 holds aspring loaded follower 88 which is urged outwardly thereof by spring 89.The spring means, while unitary with the sensing means, thus serves tourge the carriage 60 rotatably about the support bar 62 and continuouslyholds the guide follower 84 in engagement with the surface of the roll.As shown in FIG. 6, a transducer 90, for example, a linear variabledifferential transformer 90, the output signal of which is recorded orcharted is fixed to the sensor 86 and provided with a slidabletransducer rod 92 which is in turn connected to the follower 88.Variations in the transducer signal are caused by fluctuations in theposition of the follower 88 within the sensor 86 with such movements inturn causimg relative movement of the transducer rod within thetransducer as the device is moved parallel to the longitudinal axis ofthe roll 68 and the vertical axis extendimg through such axis.

The purpose of the set-screws 82 is to permit the guide 80 and sensor 86to be set into position upon an element of paper rolls of varying sizes.To aid in this adjustment, markings are made upon the gauge arms.

Movement of the carriage along the support bar 62 is preferably by meansof a wire 90' attached to the carriage. The wire 90 runs over a pulley92 driven by motor 94. The motor 94 is driven at a speed to move thecarriage 60 along the support bar 62 at a rate synchronous with therecordimg device. The motor 94 is preferably mounted upon the supportbar 62. Accuracy of the device is increased by the presence of the motor94 which provides a smooth and continuous travel of the carriage 60. Areversing switch 96 is also mounted upon the support bar 62 to limit thetravel of the carriage 60.

The apparatus of the present invention is operated as follows. The paperroll to be examined is placed in position. T he carriage is thenpositioned upon or adjacent to the roll depending upon the embodimentused. The sensing roll is positioned against the paper roll andadjusted.

The motor is then turned on causimg the carriage to move along thesupport bar or shaft. As the carriage moves parallel to the longitudinalaxis of the paper roll or to the vertical plane extendimg through suchaxis, the transducer responds to variations in the rolls surface contourby reason of the rolling contact of the sensing roll with the paperroll. The transducer continuously emits a signal in accordance with thevariations on the surface of the paper roll and the signals are.translated into a visual pattern upon chart paper of a recordimgmachine, thereby givimg a continuous picture of the surface contourvariations in the paper roll along its entire length and as a directresult a graphie representation or measurement of the difierentialstretch in the paper web.

The visual pattern on the chart paper is produced in the well-knowmmammer by a movable stylus markimg fluctuations on a movimg chart.Ideally, a perfect roll of web would be one in which the roll surfacecontour would have no variations and accordingly, a straight lime wouldappear upon the chart. A less than perfect roll would produceundulations in the lime representing bulges or comcavities in the roll.

The sigmals are graphically recorded t0 imdicate the departure of theroll surface contour from a morm as may be represented by the referencedistance which then gives the basis for a judgmemt as to the conditionor acceptability of emtire length of web.

The measuring apparatus described thus fumctions for obtainimgmeasurements of diferential web caliper or stretch in a wound supply ofsuch material and these measurements are valuable when compared with astandard which has been found to be acceptable with the particular webusimg apparatus to be used.

The above description has been made with respect to two particularembodiments of the present invention; however, it is to be understoodthat various changes can be made without departing from the scope of theinvention.

We claim:

1 An apparatus for measurimg the diflerential stretch in a web ofmaterial wound into a roll about a predetermined axis comprising:

(a) a series of branched support pads restimg at spaced points on thesurface of said roll, said series extending along a lime parallel tosaid predetermined axis;

(b) an elongated cylimdrical support bar fixed to said support pads andextending in 21 direction parallel to said lime;

(c) a carriage slidably and rotatably mounted on said support bar;

(d) means for mounting said carriage for movement along said supportbar;

(e) a pair of gauge arms fixed to said carriage and extending onopposite sides of said roll in a plane perpendicular to said lime;

(f) a guide follower fixed to one of said arms and engaging the surfaceof said roll;

(g) sensing means fixed to the other of said arms and emgagimg thesurface of said roll at a point diametrically opposite said guidefollower for sensing the differemtial surface contour of said wound rollet web as said carriage moves along said support bar;

(h) means urging said carriage rotatively about said support bar forcomtimuously holding said guide follower in engagement with the surfaceof said roll;

(i) recordimg means for comtimuously recording the output signal of saidsensing means; and

(j) means for moving said carriage along said support bar at a ratesynchronous with the recording means.

2. An apparatus for measuring the differential stretch in a web ofmaterial wound into a roll about a predetermined axis as set forth inclaim 1 whereim:

(a) said urging means is unitary with said sensing means; and

(b) said sensing means further imcludes a slidable follower urged towardthe surface of said roll by said sprmg means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,845,199 2/1932 Schmuck 33-178 X3,237,312 3/1966 Boppel 33-174 X FOREIGN PATENTS 554,338 7/1932 Germany.

SAMUEL S. MATIHEWS, Primary Examiner.

